Peace talks in the philippines

Produced by Rocky Nazareno By Alex Y Vergara Portraits by Pinggot Zulueta Video by Alvin Veri And Samuel Abad These days, if you were to run into Benito and Wilma Tiamzon, you would think they were your ordinary lolo and lola out for a stroll in the mall, or if you saw them in Europe holding hands while walking, you could make the mistake of assuming they were retired executives from the Philippines finally enjoying their pension and their freedom. But Benito and Wilma are not your average grandparents. They are the most formidable heads of the central executive committee of the Communist Party of the Philippines, he—the chair and head of the CPP and its armed wing, the New People’s Army, and she, the CPP secretary general. They have spent so much of their time together on bail in Norway to engage in the very perilous and delicate mission of resuming peace talks between our government and the communists who have become part of what is believed to be one of the … [Read more...] about The most dangerous couple in the Philippines

By Rocky Nazareno Like a suitor spurned, President Rodrigo R. Duterte had to borrow lyrics from an ‘80s James Ingram song to convey his frustrations as he announced the withdrawal of the government’s own unilateral ceasefire with communist insurgents Friday afternoon in North Cotabato. “I did my best, but my best just wasn’t good enough,” he said. Indeed, he had tried his best to woo the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) with offers for reconciliation never before seen in the more than 40 rounds of talks spread over five previous presidents, in an effort to end 48 years of armed conflict. Duterte welcomed top leaders of the CPP-NPA-NDF in Malacañang, a gesture that what would have been unthinkable in previous administrations. He met with them in his hometown numerous times. He often related how he had extended courtesies to insurgents in Davao City while he was still its mayor. … [Read more...] about Peace talks with the Reds: A love that couldn’t be

“The old world is dying, and the new world struggles to be born,” Italian thinker Antonio Gramsci once said. Three decades after the downfall of the Marcos dictatorship, which left deep and lasting wounds on an impoverished nation, the Filipino people are once again clamouring for “change”. Amid a zeitgeist of “grievance politics”, a significant number of Filipinos have voted for “outside the box” candidates who have openly questioned the utility and wisdom of existing democratic institutions in the country. Fed up with empty promises, and suffering from one of the highest rates of poverty and unemployment in Asia, the Philippine electorate has voted into power a curious mixture of political outsiders (PDF). The country has elected its first self-described “socialist” as a president. Rodrigo Duterte, the tough-talking and iconoclastic mayor of the provincial city of Davao, has claimed a landslide victory by capturing more than … [Read more...] about Rodrigo Duterte: A new era in the Philippines

The Philippine government and the National Democratic Front (NDF) will hold their fifth round of talks in August, government chief negotiator Silvestre Bello 3rd said on Tuesday. This comes more than a month after the fifth round of peace negotiations was suspended due to continuous attacks by rebel forces against government troops in the countryside. In a press conference in Malacanang, Bello said: “We will probably have the—iyong naudlot na fifth round will be realized second or third week of August.” But before the formal talks, Bello said the peace panels of government and the NDF would have an informal meeting this July somewhere in Asia. “But before that, para maganda, we will have a good result, there will be an informal meeting with the panel, and the meeting may be in Asia or in the Philippines,” he said. According to Bello, the NDF peace panel prefers to hold the informal meeting in Japan but said the it could be held in Hong Kong. … [Read more...] about Govt, communists to resume peace talks in August — Bello

The Philippines was among the least peaceful countries in the world, the recent survey from Global Peace Index revealed. According Institute for Economics and Peace’s Global Peace Index (GPI) 2013 , the world became “less peaceful” compared to how it was five years ago. In the new index, 162 countries around the world were surveyed to determine the levels of securities in the socities, the extent of conflicts and the degree of militarization in the countries. Based on their findings, the GPI reported that the level of peace in the world have fallen by five percent since 2008. It added that internal conflicts in countries have risen over the years and it also showed that 110 countries became less peaceful over the years. Iceland, Denmark, New Zealand, Canada, Japan, Austria, Ireland, Slovenia, Finland and Switzerland were the top 10 peaceful countries, the index reported. It explained that Iceland’s political stability, low crime rate and small prison population … [Read more...] about PH among the least peaceful countries in the world- Global Peace Index

THE Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) is set to meet next week to prepare for the fourth round of formal peace talks with the National Democratic Front (NDF) in April. Lawyer Antonio Arellano, GRP peace negotiator, said on Wednesday, March 15, during the Mindanao Peace Forum held at Mais Hall of Homitori Inn in Davao City that the panel will meet in preparation for the renewed talks with the NDF. Arellano said the talks will tackle the Comprehensive Agreement in Socioeconomic Reforms (Caser) and the Comprehensive Agreement in Political and Constitutional reforms. “They are interrelated, the most sensitive topic will be the Caser because it will tackle socio-economic reforms,” he said. Arellano said a signing of the Caser should not be expected after the talks because of the complexity of the topic. “Hindi pa siguro. We cannot just resolve complex issues summarily, it goes to the root of the rebellion,” he said. He said there is no … [Read more...] about Gov’t set for resumption of peace talks in April

(Part 3 came out last Sunday). But in regard to the Philippines, the US had lost a stable foothold with the abrogation of the Military Bases Agreement in 1991. The Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) which after a time had been made to supplant the bases agreement, though effectively invoked by the US from time to time to deploy US troops in the country for ostensible exercises with AFP soldiers, certainly does not suffice US requirement for permanent military bases in the Philippines like Clark and Subic in the past. Such requirement becomes particularly urgent considering the need to re-deploy in the immediate term some 8,000 US troops from Okinawa, Japan. Many of the Magnificent 12 senators who voted down the US military bases in 1991 have faded into the background of Philippine politics, but a number of the names in the dozen continue to form part of the senate roster: Pimentel (Aquilino, Jr.), Guingona (Teofisto III), Estrada (Jinggoy), though in their capacities as descendants of … [Read more...] about Need to reestablish US bases in the Philippines

THREE of the five substantive issues were already agreed upon by peace negotiators from the Government of the Philippines and National Democratic Front (NDF) by peace panels last Tuesday morning in Oslo, Norway. The issues include a formal commitment to accelerate the process of forging a political settlement during the term of President Rodrigo Duterte. The negotiating panels only took four hours from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. to settle minor conflicting positions on the three substantive issues during a marathon session that was punctuated on several instances by laughter and light banter, a media release from the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (Opapp) said. The three major issues that were settled were the Affirmation of the previously-signed agreements: Reconstitution of the Joint Agreement on Security and Immunity Guarantees (Jasig) list, and Accelerated process for negotiations, including the timeline for the completion of the remaining substantive agenda … [Read more...] about 3 issues agreed on peace talks in Oslo, Norway

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - The Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) will resume formal peace talks in July to discuss the three remaining annexes of the framework agreement on the Bangsamoro (FAB), the government chief negotiator said today. "The panel chairs (of both sides) have already agreed on a date early next month to further discuss the annexes on wealth-sharing, power-sharing and normalization," said government peace panel chair Miriam Coronel-Ferrer who met informally with MILF chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal this week in Norway where they both attended a forum. Ferrer also handed over to her counterpart the government's proposal on the wealth-sharing annex for the MILF to consider. Both panels are completing the remaining annexes on wealth- sharing, power-sharing, and normalization that, together with the FAB, will comprise the comprehensive agreement. Meanwhile, government panel member Senen Bacani expressed optimism that a comprehensive … [Read more...] about Gov’t, Muslim rebels to resume peace talks in July

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - Peace negotiations between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the largest Muslim rebel group in the country, were postponed to April, a senior government official said today. Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Teresita Deles said Philippine President Benigno Aquino has requested the postponement of the 37th round of formal exploratory talks between the government and the MILF which was scheduled to begin Wednesday. Deles said three government peace panel members flew to Kuala Lumpur to personally convey the request to Mohagher Iqbal, MILF's chairman of the peace panel and to set a new date for the peace talks. Aquino said the postponement will give time for the Philippine government and the MILF to review the annexes. "We have to be able to come to an understanding on these annexes so that the crafting of the new organic act will be something that all stakeholders can agree to and rally behind," he said. … [Read more...] about Gov’t, Muslim rebels to resume peace talks in April